LOMBOK: Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi staged a sensational comeback to win the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint on Saturday, overtaking Gresini Racing’s 20-year-old rookie Fermin Aldeguer on the final lap at the Mandalika International Street Circuit.

Bezzecchi, who started from pole position, made a disastrous start and dropped several places before the 26-year-old Italian rallied to secure his third sprint win in MotoGP.

“It was a fantastic race. Unfortunately, we have to understand what happened at the start because I lost a lot of time. But afterwards, I was so confident, so fast,” Bezzecchi said.

“Fermin was already gone, so I didn’t expect to catch him. But I didn’t give up and it was fantastic, I’m destroyed! It was incredible in the last lap — I tried my all to go all in and I wanted this win so badly! I’m very happy and now we think about tomorrow.”

Having led for most of the 13-lap sprint, Aldeguer was denied a triumph that would have made the Spaniard the youngest MotoGP sprint winner.

“In the end we have to be happy. Another time on the podium is a big result, but after taking lead in the race, very good pace [I] would have loved the victory ... But tomorrow we have another chance,” Aldeguer said.

Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez completed the podium after starting third on the grid.

Newly-crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez struggled at Mandalika, a circuit where the seven-time world champion has never won. Marquez received a long lap penalty for contact with Yamaha’s Alex Rins, resulting in the 32-year-old Spaniard finishing seventh.

Marquez’s points helped Ducati clinch the teams’ world championship after a dominant season featuring 13 Grand Prix wins and 15 sprint victories.

Marquez’s team-mate and twice MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia had a day to forget as the Italian finished 14th, having failed to qualify for Q2.

KTM’s Pedro Acosta also endured a tough day, crashing out of second place on lap five to end his hopes of a podium finish.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2025